Attorneys for Roger Desilets, the former Fitchburg dentist accused of manslaughter in the death of his wife in 2011, began their defense Thursday by calling the carpenter who built a wall to hold the window frame that Kathleen Desilets either fell from, as the defense contends, or was thrown out of, as prosecutors have alleged. POOL PHOTO/MASSLIVE.COM

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WORCESTER -- A private forensic pathologist retained by the defense in the Roger Desilets manslaughter trial testified Thursday that Kathleen Desilets body "did not go through and break that glass" of the window she plummeted from on Dec. 6, 2011, as the prosecution contends.

Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, who reviewed the case for the defense based on the state's autopsy, toxicology report, photographs of the autopsy, and visiting the scene, testified that from the dirt found on Kathleen Desilets' heels, hands and buttocks, the 65-year-old landed in the "mulch dirt area directly under the window," and she "absolutely did not land face first" on the grass when she was found by first responders.

"Nothing supports that hypothesis," Laposata said about Kathleen Desilets landing on the grass.

Laposata, the former chief medical examiner of Rhode Island, testified that, based on her injuries, Kathleen Desilets had the physiological ability to move from her "initial landing spot."

The jury will hear closing arguments from both sides Friday morning before going into deliberation.

The defense has offered the theory that Mrs. Desilets broke the window, pulled glass from the bottom of it in order to sit down and either jumped or fell to her death.

Prosecutors have built their case on the theory that Roger Desilets, 72, threw his wife from the window.

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Laposata, who is being paid at a $425 an hour rate by the defense, testified that the incise wounds on Kathleen Desilets' hands are consistent with "picking glass out and cutting herself." She also said the "pattern injuries" on the back of Mrs. Desilets upper left thigh were consistent with sitting on a window frame.

On Kathleen Desilets back were two "superficial" horizontal incise wounds, Laposata testified, that could have been caused by sitting in the window frame and coming in contact with the glass that remained intact at the top of the broken window.

The cause of Kathleen Desilets death was internal bleeding from blunt-force trauma that lacerated her heart.

When the prosecutors cross-examined Laposata, assistant District Attorney John Bradley asked her how she was able to come to many of her conclusions without talking to those involved to get a better understanding of what happened.

Laposata admitted during Bradley's cross-examination, the only people she spoke to to reach her conclusions was Roger Desilets' defense team and insisted everything she testified to was feasible to conclude from the information she reviewed for the case.

For example, Laposata said the abrasion to Kathleen Desilets' right lip "absolutely" came from the endotracheal tube first responders inserted into her mouth during resuscitation methods.

Bradley, when cross-examining Laposata, asked her how she could confidently draw that conclusion if she wasn't there when the tube was inserted and never talked to the EMTs who actually tried to resuscitate Mrs. Desilets.

She responded that it was a "classic" case that she had seen "thousands" of times when performing autopsies.

Prosecutors also contend that during a "violent" argument Roger Desilets struck his wife, causing an injury to her left eye and right side of mouth, in the hallway area outside of the third floor bedroom where she fell to her death.

Prosecutors indicated today that jurors will be asked to decide separately on whether to convict Roger Desilets for assault and battery for the alleged physical confrontation between he and his wife that night in the hallway and bathroom area on the third floor.

Blood of both Roger and Kathleen Desilets was found in multiple spots in the area of the hallway and a bathroom on the third floor.

Bradley also asked Laposata to tell the jury about the DNA report she reviewed for the case. Laposata only cited the DNA samples of Kathleen Desilets found on the interior and exterior of two pieces of glass found in the bedroom -- vital information to the defense's theory that Kathleen Desilets picked the glass out of the window before sitting down.

"Is that all?" Bradley asked before reminding her about the DNA found in the blood stains scattered throughout the third floor.

Laposata said that was "not important in the context" of how Kathleen Desilets died.

She said it was not important because Kathleen Desilets had "no other injuries that would bleed or deposit blood" before coming in contact with the glass.

Investigators who have testified throughout the trial said no red-brown stains consistent with blood were found in the third-floor bedroom, except on the window frame. There were none on the bedding in the room, the carpet, the pillows, the gray robe or other items "visually inspected" by investigators.

When then the prosecution was making its case, they called many friends and family members to testify, including William Aubuchon III. On Thursday, the defense called Mr. Aubuchon's wife to testify.

Defense attorney Ed Ryan asked Karson Aubuchon, who said she has known the Desilets since 1972, about a morning in late August when Kathleen Desilets called her.

Aubuchon said she went to the Desilets' Princeton home around 7 a.m. and said Mrs. Desilets was "extremely agitated." In August, Kathleen Desilets found out his wife was having a long-term affair.

"She was crying. Her voice was loud. She was pacing," Aubuchon said.

During this, Aubuchon testified, Roger Desilets was standing "like a statue at the sink" in the kitchen while his wife was pacing around the room.

While she was pacing, Kathleen Desilets was "pounding" her husband in the chest and kicking him, Aubuchon testified.

The defense has contended during the trial that Kathleen Desilets may have "physically confronted" her husband at least three different times prior to her death, which may explain the blood on the third floor and the injuries on his face and neck.

When question by the state, Aubuchon described Kathleen Desilets as a "wonderful person" and someone who was upset about her husband's infidelity, but "she lived on the positive side."

The defense rested around 12:30 p.m Thursday.

After the jury cleared the courtroom, Judge Janet Kenton-Walker denied a motion from the defense to dismiss the charges based on the evidence present by the state.

Defense attorney Michael Wilcox said the state "failed miserably" at presenting sufficient evidence that Roger Desilets shoved Kathleen Desilets causing her to eject through the window and fall to her death.

Kenton-Walker concluded that the state presented "ample" and "sufficient" evidence to the jury in order for them to deliberate and come to a conclusion on the manslaughter and assault and battery charges Roger Desilets is facing.

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